Citi Traders Join Wall Street Masses With Pink Slips

Citigroup, which recently drew criticism from analysts for not shrinking faster in response to new regulations and changing market conditions, is on track to slash 300 sales and trading jobs globally in 2012.

Confirmation of the latest round of layoffs comes on the heels of major banks announcing 160,000 job cuts since early last year. Many of those who have already lost their jobs or are set to get pink slips are expected to leave the industry for good. Redundancies are currently outpacing new hires by two-to-one, according to Reuters. Citi’s newest round of layoffs follow a 5% cut in the financial institution’s securities-and-banking unit in 2011. The sales-and-trading business is part of Citi’s securities unit, which employs roughly 17,000 people, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Both former Citi CEO Vikram Pandit and his successor, Michael Corbat, have said that controlling expenses is a top priority. "We will remain extraordinarily focused on our efficiency ratios and our overall expense levels," Corbat told analysts on Oct. 16, the day he was named as Pandit’s successor.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has some advice for job seekers in 2013. Among other recommendations, the Journal notes that personal branding is key, so make sure you take a good look at your twitter and LinkedIn accounts and keep them up to date.

From the WSJ:

"More and more employers are looking for employees to tweet on their behalf, to blog on their behalf, to build an audience and write compelling, snappy posts," says Meredith Haberfeld, an executive and career coach in New York.

Job seekers might also want to make sure they brush up their communications skills.

“As office conversations increasingly move online, some workers are losing or never developing the ability to give a presentation, for example. Others may be unable to write coherently for longer than, say, 140 characters,” the WSJ notes.

Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio